1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910778556003321

Autore

Nagy L (Laszlo), <1961->

Titolo

The biology of alpine habitats [[electronic resource] /] / Laszlo Nagy and Georg Grabherr

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Oxford, : Oxford University Press, 2009

ISBN

1-383-02968-7

1-282-32864-6

9786612328640

0-19-154657-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (389 p.)

Collana

Biology of habitats

Altri autori (Persone)

GrabherrGeorg

Disciplina

577.538

Soggetti

Mountain ecology

Upland ecology

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Preface; Acknowledgements; Contents; 1 Introduction: What is alpine?; 2 High mountains in latitude life zones: a worldwide perspective; 3 Elevation gradients; 4 The alpine environment: energy and climate; 5 Habitat creating factors: landforms, hydrology, and soils; 6 Alpine terrestrial habitats and community types/assemblages; 7 Biogeography, adaptation, and evolution of alpine organisms; 8 Temporal and spatial dynamics; 9 Global change impacts on alpine habitats: climate and nitrogen deposition; 10 Land use and conservation of alpine landscapes, ecosystems, and species; 11 Concluding remarks

ReferencesIndex

Sommario/riassunto

This book is unique in providing a global overview of alpine (high mountain) habitats that occur above the natural (cold-limited) tree line, describing the factors that have shaped them over both ecological and evolutionary timescales. The broad geographic coverage helps synthesise common features whilst revealing differences in the world's major alpine systems from the Arctic to the Tropics. The words ""barren"" and ""wasteland"" have often been applied to describe landscapes beyondthe treeline. However, a closer look reveals a large diversity of habitats, assemblages and individual taxa, lar